Located north of Pemberton, the mountain is the site of Canada’s most recent explosive eruption — 2,360 years ago — but there’s currently no cause for alarm, officials say.

snip

NRC released a situation report that was forwarded to local officials on Sept. 19. The biggest risk to the public right now is on Job Glacier, which has large fumaroles — or volcanic openings that emit steam and hot gases — measuring about 15 to 20 metres deep and 30 by 20 to 30 metres in diameter.

While there is some indication that the fumarole field has been around for the last 40 years, in July a helicopter pilot who is trained as a geologist noticed the fumaroles on the glacier. On top of that, throughout the summer NRC received reports of a sulphuric smell around the valley of Mount Meager, according to the report."

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

"Mount Aso in southern Japan has sent huge plumes of grey smoke 11 kilometres into the air in one of the volcano's biggest explosions in years.

The Japan Meteorological Agency says the eruption in the early hours of Saturday also blew off bits of volcanic rock and ash and raised an alert level for the area, extending the entry ban from just around the volcanic mouth to the mountain itself.

Footage on Japan's NHK public television showed orange flames flickering from several locations on the mountaintop as the volcano emitted thick smoke billowing into the sky.

There are no homes within the off-limit area and no injuries or major damage have been reported in nearby towns, though buildings and cars were covered with thick ash falls. Flights were not affected.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Peru volcanoes explode into life triggering state of emergency and MASS EVACUATION

TWO volcanoes in Peru have erupted into life, just 60 miles apart sparking widespread fears and authorities have declared a state of emergency and started a mass evacuation.

The Sabancaya volcano started spewing ash and smoke some 3,500 meters (11,500 feet) into the air on Monday, in the latest in a series of worrying explosions in the south of the South American country.

The volcano, situated just 40 miles from Peru’s second most populous city Arequipa in the Andes, returned to life at 8.24am on Monday just over a week after it began activity on December 16.

Local authorities have warned the local inhabitants they are likely to be affected by the ash from the 20,000-ft (6,000m) volcano whose name translates at ‘tongue of fire’ in the local dialect of Quechua.

A lava delta — an expanse of unstable rocky terrain formed by cooled lava — in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park collapsed suddenly into the ocean on New Year's Eve, creating a spectacle of volcanic ash, steam and gas to mark the end of 2016.

Share on other sites

A supervolcano which hasn’t erupted for 12,000 years may be waking up, and ‘reaching a critical state’ say scientists.

"A supervolcano which hasn’t erupted for 12,000 years may be waking up, and ‘reaching a critical state’ say scientists who published their findings in the journal Nature Communications.

Aside from an inconsequentially small eruption in 1538, this same volcano also erupted about 40,000 years ago, and could have contributed to the extinction of the Neaderthals, as suggested by a 2010 study.

The supervolcano lies under 500,000 people in Campi Flegrei, Italy in one of the most densely populated areas of Naples.

Scientists led by Giovanni Chiodini of the Italian National Institute of Geophysics in Rome used computer modeling and physical measurements to deduce that the volcano could be reaching critical degassing pressure, and be close to exploding. The sudden release of hot magmatic gases could trigger an eruption, the scientists warn, although they did not predict a specific time, saying this was impossible.

Italy’s government has raised the volcano’s threat level from green to yellow in response to the findings. This means that instead of assuming the volcano will be quiet, it will be under constant 24-hour-a-day scientific surveillance to look for additional clues that it might be ready to erupt.

"One of the world’s most active volcanoes, the Piton de la Fournaise (Peak of the Furnace) on Reunion Island, has left onlookers stunned after erupting into the night sky.
The 2,632 meter (8,635ft) shield volcano, located on the French outpost in the Indian Ocean, erupted on Tuesday night spewing lava and plumes of hot ash up to 15 meters into the air, illuminating the night sky.

snip

On average, the volcano has erupted every eight months since 1640, according to the Piton de la Fournaise Volcano Observatory, reported Sciences et Avenir."

t's not every day that scientists can study a volcano up close, but researchers investigating the feasibility of volcano-powered electricity successfully drilled into the core of one in Iceland.

Scientists studied the volcanic system at Reykjanes Peninsula in Iceland, which has been dormant for more than 700 years, according to a hazard assessment by Verkis Consulting Engineers for Invest in Inceland.

The depths of Reykjanes' geothermal field — an area with high heat flow — had never been explored, researchers with the Iceland Deep Drilling Project (IDDP) said in a statement. Beginning in August 2016, the IDDP spent 168 days drilling into the volcanic belly of Reykjanes. This well was completed on Jan. 25, reaching a record-breaking depth of nearly 3 miles (4.8 kilometers). [The 11 Biggest Volcanic Eruptions in History

There is no way to know for sure, but science warns that hotspots like the San Andreas fault in Southern California are “overdue” for the big one, which frequently occurs every hundred years or so. If the earth doesn’t release enough steam from time to time, larger pressures can build up, creating event more catastrophic disasters.

A volcano in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands has been erupting quite a bit lately – and has now had its biggest eruption so far in recent months, sending volcanic ash hurling some 35,000 feet into the air, high enough to disrupt commercial flights. That was the Bogoslof Volcano.

Link to post

Share on other sites

"Two of Kamchatka's volcanos – Kambalny and Kluchevskoy – have spewed ash thousands of meters into the air, as eruptions and seismic activity intensified in Russia’s far eastern region last week. The ash cloud spread some 100 km into the Pacific.

“According to the satellite data of the Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT) on Monday morning, ash release was recorded on the Kambalny volcano. The height of the ash release was up to 7 thousand meters above sea level,” the local Emergency Ministry branch said in a statement, adding that no civilians are at risk.

The 2,156-meters-high Kambalny volcano in the southern part of the Kamchatka Peninsula is the southernmost active volcano in the region. The Kambalny volcano which unexpectedly started spewing ash several days ago after waking from a 250 year period of inactivity is being closely monitored.

Monday’s eruption blew ash eastwards some 100 km in the direction of the Pacific Ocean. The Ministry noted that the path of the ash will unlikely affect air traffic in the area. However, authorities issued a code 'orange' volcano aviation alert.

Kamchatka was also rattled by another 4.5 tremor on Monday, following a powerful 6.6 earthquake and aftershocks last week that were felt by residents on the Russian peninsula.

Less than 24 hours before the Kambalny eruption, the 4,750-meter Kluchevskoy volcano, which has also been active over the past week, went on to blast ash some 6,000 meters into the air.

The highest active volcano of Eurasia on Sunday laid an ash track in a Northwestern direction, covering 283 km over uninhabited areas of the Russian Far East. The eruption has not affected air traffic in the area the ministry noted."

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Is Italy's SUPERVOLCANO about to blow? Experts warn that Campi Flegrei is at a 'critical stage' in the build up to a devastating eruption

Shivali Best May 15, 2017

"While the Campi Flegrei volcano hasn't erupted since 1538, experts have warned that it could be building up to another devastating eruption.
By studying patterns of unrest over the last 500 years, the researchers have predicted that we are reaching a 'critical stage' where further unrest will lead to an eruption.
They hope their findings will urge local authorities to prepare for an eruption, which they say would affect the 360,000 people living across the caldera and Naples' population of nearly one million.

While the Campi Flegrei volcano hasn't erupted since 1538, experts have warned that it could be building up to another devastating eruption

If the volcano was to erupt, it could cause havoc for those trying to fly in the area.
Dr Christopher Kilburn, who led the study, told MailOnline: 'An eruption might disrupt air traffic, if only for precautionary measures and the immediate effect would be in Campi Flegrei and Naples.'
Experts from UCL and the Vesuvius Observatory in Naples have been studying the patterns of unrest since Campi Flegrei's last eruption 500 years ago."

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Decades after catastrophic 1980 eruption, Mount St. Helens is 'recharging'

Blair Shiff May 18, 2017

snip video

"Mount St. Helens erupted on May 18, 1980, after two months of increasing volcanic activity.

Since its most recent eruption in 2008, there has been a swarm of earthquakes, which are thought to be a result of the magmatic system's "recharging," according to the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network.

Similar seismic swarms were detected during recharging periods before a small eruption in 2004 and through a period of volcanic activity that ended in 2008.

In March through May of this year, swarms of deep earthquakes, not even felt on the surface, have been detected.

Seismic swarms do not directly indicate that an eruption is imminent, because volcanic forecasting is difficult, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The 1980 eruption is widely considered the most disastrous volcanic eruption in U.S. history. It killed 57 people and destroyed hundreds of homes, 57 bridges and some 200 miles of roads, in addition to leveling tens of thousands of acres of forest.

The eruption sent an ash cloud more than 12 miles into the atmosphere in just 10 minutes. Fine ash reached the Northeast two days later and circled the earth within 15 days, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The volcano had been dormant for more than 100 years until seismic activity started to increase in March 1980."
snip This is a detailed article with several videos.

"Alaska's Bogoslof Volcano erupted Sunday, sending a plume of ash at least 35,000 feet into the air and temporarily triggering the highest aviation alert, scientists say.

The Bogoslof Volcano in the Aleutian Islands erupted at 2:16 p.m. Sunday, according to the Alaska Volcano Observatory. The eruption lasted 55 minutes.

No further ash emissions have occurred at Bogoslof Volcano since the explosion, and seismic activity remains low, according to the observatory.

“We are therefore lowering the Aviation Color Code to ORANGE and the Alert Level to WATCH,” the agency said in a statement. “Additional ash-producing eruptions could occur at any time, however, with no detectable precursors.”

The clouds of ash from erupting volcanoes are a threat to jet engines. Airliners operating between North America and Asia fly in Bogoslof’s path.

Volcano eruptions have wreaked havoc on air travel in the past, not to mention caused significant environmental impact. In 2010, the eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull Volcano led to the cancellation of tens of thousands of flights in Europe."

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

@EW The thing that got me about Vesuvius was that those fires all over the mountain, started simultaneously. I wondered if the fires in those areas, started from the roots of the brush, due to magma already being present, which created hot spots beneath the surface. He did say dry and drought on surface, also solar winds, etc., so perhaps conditions all round were perfect to start multiple fires at once.. I truly hope it's not the volcano itself. Thanks for additional info.

2

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

@EW The thing that got me about Vesuvius was that those fires all over the mountain, started simultaneously. I wondered if the fires in those areas, started from the roots of the brush, due to magma already being present, which created hot spots beneath the surface. He did say dry and drought on surface, also solar winds, etc., so perhaps conditions all round were perfect to start multiple fires at once.. I truly hope it's not the volcano itself. Thanks for additional info.

Yes, I wondered at 'hot-spots' myself, and it is possible.

In those hot, dry and windy conditions, fires can start by multiple methods. One old one was broken glass acting as a sunlight magnifier - and as a warning to all - plastic bottles of water are also proven fire starters, we know of 2-3 at least where a plastic bottle of water left on the back shelf of a car has started a fire.

And then, once a fire starts, you can get 'spotting' - this is where the wind will pick up some burning debris (leaves, twigs, etc.) and carry them a distance to start a new fire. Willie-Willies (wind swirls) can carry a fire for hundreds of meters, and we have known spotting occur at over 12 miles - 20Km.

And a fire goes much faster up a hill - it doubles it's speed for every 10% increase in gradient.

Also, where you have hills, valleys and uneven surface, the winds often swirl around, coming from all different directions, and can easily jump over large distances before touching down again.

All of the above is from basic Bushfire training, both what we were taught, and what I have seen personally at fires. So nothing surprises me anymore

4

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

My understanding is that a lot of southern Italy has been ravaged by wild fires because of the drought (and probably careless people). Sicily has also been having problems. Mt Vesuvius just seems to get the most attention.

And the vegetation there is much like California, which is susceptible to fires like this during the dry season.

Seven of Sicily's nine provinces were put on maximum alert for fires by the Civil Protection Agency on Thursday as firefighters tackled hundreds of wildfires across the whole country.

The fires have also affected Sardinia, where a care home and several houses were evacuated in Arzana on the east of the island.

snip

In total, the wildfires have burned 26,000 hectares of farmland in the last month alone, according to a dossier presented by environmental organization Legambiente. That's almost the same amount of land as was destroyed by fire over the whole of 2016.

A SUPERVOLCANO in Italy is becoming “more dangerous”, scientists have warned as fears grow it could lead to a devastating eruption.

snip video

"Phlegraean Fields, also known as Campi Flegrei, near Naples, Italy, is showing signs of erupting, volcanologists have warned.

Campi Flegrei had been dormant since the 1980s, but it awoke from the decades long slumber last year, and experts are now beginning to understand its full potential.

While the volcano did show signs of activity in the 80s, it did not erupt but seismologists fear a magma flow could trigger an eruption.

Seismologists have been monitoring the situation and found magma has been flooding into the chambers of Campi Flegrei – prompting fears it could be about to erupt near the holiday hotspot of Naples.

snip pics

Image: Getty Campi Flegrei is becoming 'more dangerous'

A recent study from the University of Aberdeen in conjunction with the INGV Osservatorio Vesuviano, the RISSC lab of the University of Naples, and the University of Texas at Austin shows a two-kilometre deep rock formation blocked the magma’s path to the surface.

But experts now say the magma has migrated to a different location beneath the surface – closer to the city of Naples which is home to almost three million people.

Dr Luca De Siena, a researcher at the University of Aberdeen, said: "During the last 30 years the behaviour of the volcano has changed, with everything becoming hotter due to fluids permeating the entire caldera.

"Whatever produced the activity under Pozzuoli in the 1980s has migrated somewhere else, so the danger doesn't just lie in the same spot, it could now be much nearer to Naples which is more densely populated."

Link to post

Share on other sites

All 11,000 residents on Ambea, Vanuatu island are evacuating Sunday as Vanuatu volcano spits lava across the tiny Pacific land mass.

Reuters reports that the volcano began activating in September and now has fully erupted, leaving residents on the island no choice but to evacuate. The Red Cross and other charitable organizations are now compiling resources to aid residents’ access to clean drinking water, as the volcano has contaminated the island’s regular source.